Concrete Jungle
by sparrows-n-swanns
Summary: It is the Monday after the infamous Saturday detention, and the gang are on their way to school. Can the Breakfast Club remain friends?
1. A Beginning

**Author's note: **It's been too long! I haven't had the time to write in awhile, and I didn't have a lot of motivation to write either. However, I'm starting to get in the mood to write again, so I'm going to start working on this story once again very soon, and continue where I left off.

* * *

Monday morning. Allison Reynolds looked into a broken mirror hanging on her bedroom wall; The Smiths were playing on her record player that sat on the floor. The previous weekend, Saturday to be exact, was a day she would never forget. She had detention; where she met, and actually talked to people from school. All she knew before that day was that people didn't listen to her, not even her parents. What she learned after that day was that there were other kids out there that had their own problems; people she never expected to have _any_ problems. There were people that would actually listen to her. However, now she woke up to Monday morning, and she wasn't sure what it would bring. She remembered what Claire said in detention; she said they all wouldn't be friends on Monday. Either way, she knew what she wanted to do. Claire Standish gave Allison some "nice" clothes to wear while they were at detention. Allison packed them up, and shoved them in her backpack to give back to Claire. Usually, she would just steal the stuff, but she actually didn't feel right taking it. She didn't mind combing her hair for a change, and putting a little less "black shit" under her eyes, but she wasn't going to change who she was. She enjoyed dressing like herself. Allison skipped breakfast as she usually did and got in the car with her parents, and sister.

* * *

Brian Johnson was sitting at the table with his family eating breakfast, he was wearing his sweater that his grandmother got him for his birthday. The thing that he thought about most since Saturday, was that he shared a secret with people he barely knew. Brian told them why he had in detention in the first place; it was because he had a gun in his locker. He planned on using it. Only his parents, and some school faculty knew about the incident before that. Brian was the one who asked Claire if they would all still be friends on Monday, and he remembered the answer like Allison did. He didn't know if it was true or not, but he knew he still considered them his friends.

"So, Brian, how are you doing in physics?" Brian's dad, Mr. Johnson asked his son.

"Fine." Brian replied. It was true, he was getting an A.

"You know, we are both very proud of you, Brian." Mr. Johnson said.

"Yeah..yeah..I know dad." Brian answered. Brian's dad was very worried about him since the gun incident.

"Let's go, you're going to be late for school." Mrs. Johnson stated. His mother on the other hand, wanted to forget it ever happened, and she wanted everyone who knew about it to forget too.

Brian, his little sister, and his mom headed out the door to the car. He had a lot on his mind. He was still worried about shop class, even though he accepted the fact that he would not be getting an A. Brian thought about his classes, and grades, when he suddenly remembered that he had math class with John. He sunk down in his seat. He liked John, but it didn't change the fact that he was afraid of him, and he wasn't sure what was going to happen if he tried talking to him.

* * *

John Bender was sitting on his porch step, smoking a cigarette. Of course, he remembered Saturday well. Bender was the one that brought 'the breakfast club' together. Although, he didn't exactly do it intentionally. His hand went to his ear; he still had Claire's earring. For once in his life, he was actually wondering what would happen that day at school. When he went to detention, like he had other times, he was the rebel, and he did a good job living up to the reputation. However, even he learned a thing or two from that Saturday. He began humming a David Bowie song, and walked to school.

* * *

Claire was going to be late for school, she couldn't find her new purse that she wanted to wear to school that day. She ran downstairs and found it laying on a chair.

"There it is.." she said to herself.

"Dad! We have to go." She yelled at her dad in the other room.

"Okay! Let's get moving." Her dad said, walking out the door.

While in the car, Claire was staring out the window, thinking about if Andrew said anything to his friends about what happened on Saturday. She thought it was a possibility, and a small part of her was hoping he did, since they were part of the same social circle. She couldn't imagine telling her friends herself. It was all she could think about since Saturday. She continued to stare out the window. The closer they got to school, the more she didn't want to go. When she said they wouldn't be friends on Monday, she knew she was right. Even if it did make her stomach turn. Especially when she thought about John.

"Is everything okay Claire?" Her dad asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, I just don't want to be late." She answered.

* * *

Andrew was sitting on the passenger's side of his dad's car, staring out the window. His thoughts consisted mostly of Allison over the weekend. However, he also had a lot of other things to think about. He had matches, and college to think about, but he was finding it hard to focus on those things. He wanted nothing more than Claire to be wrong about the group staying friends, and he wanted nothing more than to be with Allison. However, he wasn't sure if he was being realistic.

"Ah..who cares.." Andrew was thinking, but accidentally said it out loud.

"What?" His dad said back.

"Oh, nothing." Andrew answered.

"Listen, you have practice tonight, don't be late." His dad said very sternly.

"Yeah, I know dad."

Andrew tried to focus on what his dad was saying on the drive to school. However, he starting wondering if his dad ever had an experience like he had on Saturday, but he assumed not.

* * *

For Mr. Vernon, the high school principal, this Monday was just going to be another day dealing with people he liked to call _punks_.

They were all only a short distance away from going back to the same school that they all shared that previous Saturday in detention. Now, the only question was would they all walk on by?


	2. Chapter 2

Brian was sitting on the passenger's side of the car. His back was up against the seat, and he was holding his ears. His sister was sitting in the back, singing to herself. He closed his eyes, and tried to ignore her.

"Brian." Mrs. Johnson said.

Brian still had his hands on his ears, but looked at his mom.

"I hope your friends don't know about what happened." Mrs. Johnson said bitterly, she shook her head in disapproval. She was talking about why Brian had detention.

Brian let his hands fall, seeming annoyed. He didn't want to talk about it again. He never told his regular geek friends what happened. He knew if he did, their parents would find out, and that would mean it would make it's way back to his mother, and he knew better than that.

"No, I didn't tell any of my friends, okay?" Brian said, aggressively. Their car was pulling up to school.

"Good." Mrs. Johnson said, "Have a good day." she added.

"Yeah." Brian said, opening the door. He saw his friends standing at the top of the stairs in front of the doors to the school, he went up to join them.

"Hey, guys." Brian greeted them.

"Hey, how was your weekend?" his friend Kevin asked. Kevin was a lot like Brian, except he had darker hair, and was shorter, but he was basically a geek like Brian.

"Um, it was pretty good." Brian replied, calmly.

Brian stood there looking around at the other students casually, he didn't spot anyone from detention.

Andrew's car pulled up to the school. He looked out the window, and sighed.

"No monkey business today." Andrew's dad said, with a very serious face.

"Sure thing." Andrew said rolling his eyes while getting out of the car.

His dad leaned over the seat, and looked out of the door, "Ay, I'm serious." he said, sternly.

"Okay, bye." Andrew said. His dad shut the door, and drove away.

Andrew walked up on the side walk, and looked around. A friend of his from wrestling noticed him, and walked over.

"Hey, man." Alex greeted. Alex was more muscular, and taller than Andrew, but he wasn't nearly as smart. He was interested in three things: partying, wrestling, and girls.

"Hey, what's up?" Andrew asked.

"Nothing, how was detention? I bet it blew." Alex guessed.

"Kind of, but it wasn't all bad." Andrew admitted.

"Really? Why? Was there a hot girl there or something?" Alex laughed.

Andrew laughed, and put his hands in his pockets.

"Does coach know about you having detention?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." Andrew replied, "He wasn't too thrilled about it, either." he added. Andrew's wrestling coach was not happy about Andy having detention. The coach thought it made the whole team look bad.

"Yeah, but it's just detention." Alex stated, "He can't be pissed off about it forever."

"I guess." Andrew said.

Andrew wanted his dad and his coach to be proud of him; he hated letting people down. He knew he was going to have to work extra hard now.

The bell was going to ring any minute. Claire sat in the car in front of school, and like Andrew, she let out a sigh.

"You got lucky, see ya later." Mr. Standish said.

"See ya." Claire grabbed her things, and stepped out of the car.

Claire walked over to where her friends were standing. Andrew noticed her getting out of the car, and watched her. Claire could see Andrew over her friend's shoulder, and gave a short wave. Andrew smiled, and waved back.

Claire's group of girlfriends consisted of: Jennifer Anderson, Melissa Williams, and Samantha Baker. They were the most popular girls of the eleventh grade. Their families all had money, and everyone knew it. Jennifer was the most known by everyone in their high school. However, it wasn't her personality that attracted people. She had dirty blond hair, and blue eyes, and she was considered to be very attractive; which is why she was considered one of the more popular girls across all grades. She was usually a bitch to people, whether she knew them or not; however, she was very good at being fake when need be. Claire had befriended her when they both were just starting high school. Melissa was the shorter one, with brown hair, and light eyes. She only started hanging out with Jenn and Claire the year before because she wanted to be popular. Her interests mostly consisted of partying and boys. Samantha Baker on the other hand, was slightly different; she was Claire's best friend. Sam had a lot of energy, but was somewhat clumsy, and she blamed it on her blond hair. She wanted to fit in, but she had a decent heart as well. Claire trusted her with everything, but she hadn't told her what happened in detention, at least not yet.

The bell began to ring. Andrew, Claire, and Brian all entered school with their friends like they had so many times before. Allison had just arrived to school; she got out of the car, and stood there waiting for her parents to leave. They had already dropped off her sister, Kathy, who attended junior high. Her parents drove off, and she slowly started walking towards the building. She stopped on the side of the street, when she saw John walking along the school. She stared at him, but Bender ignored it. Allison watched him enter the school. She continued standing there, looking around. She had just realized that no one else was around, and she was late, but it didn't make her walk any faster to get inside. When she did make it inside, she walked down the hall, watching people race to class. She reached her locker, and opened her bag. She saw Claire's clothes laying on top of her things, she didn't know when she would be able to give them back.

* * *

Andrew sat in his first class, which was his Spanish class. He was trying to decipher what the teacher was saying. Eventually, he ended up looking out of the window. He sat there thinking to himself, _man, this is gonna be a long day_. His thoughts shifted to when he might see Allison; however, what he realized was that he had no idea. He couldn't remember a thing about her before meeting her in detention. He wasn't even sure what grade she was in, although, he was pretty sure she was a junior, but he was just making a guess._ It was crazy how someone could just be overlooked like that_,_ and not remembered,_ he thought. He figured if it wasn't for detention, it was possible that no one would have ever remembered Allison Reynolds. He found that thought to be depressing, and sad, even if it was true. He wasn't sure if someone could truly have no friends; he never knew someone like that before. _Even Brian had friends_, he thought to himself. He tried to lift his spirits by believing that Allison knew there were people out there that liked her.

* * *

After first period, Allison walked out to the hallway. She was going to walk to her locker, but she saw Claire.

She walked quickly over to her, "Claire." Allison said, trying to speak up.

"Yeah?" Claire turned around, not realizing who it was that called her name. When she noticed it was Allison, she became nervous, but it didn't show.

"Hey, I have your clothes." Allison said.

"What?" Claire's eyes widened.

"When do you want the stuff back?" Allison asked, "I mean, I don't feel right keeping it." Allison said.

Claire's friends noticed that she was talking to someone, "Oh, you don't have to give me back my pencil." Claire said loudly, while smiling.

"What?" Allison had no idea what she was talking about.

"My pencil, you can just keep it." Claire said, "See ya."

Allison stood there completely confused, with her bag, while Claire, and her friends walked away. Allison blew hair out of her face, and solemnly walked to her locker.

"Who was that?" Jenn asked, Claire.

"Oh, well, she was in detention, and she asked to borrow a pencil, because she like, draws or something." Claire explained, "So, I just let her borrow it."

"Oh." Jenn said, suspiciously.

"Yeah, you don't even know _how_ weird she is." Claire said.

"What did she mean by _stuff_?" Melissa asked.

"Who knows." Claire said.

Samantha could tell Claire was acting a little strange during the encounter, but she let it slide.

"Well, _anyway_, I'll see you guys later, I'm going to class." Jenn said.

"Bye, Jenn." Claire said.

Claire's friends left, and she was standing on the side of the hall alone. She leaned against a locker, and rested her head there. She felt so stupid for acting the way she did to Allison.

"Hey, are you okay?" Andrew sounded concerned, after noticing Claire.

"Oh, hey." Claire said, "I'm fine."

"Cool." Andrew said, "I'll walk with you to your next class."

"Okay." Claire smiled.

* * *

Brian walked to his second period class; which was math, and he had it with Bender.

"What did you do this weekend?" his friend, Larry Lester asked.

"Um, well I had detention." Brian shrugged.

"No way, are you serious?" Larry asked, "Well, why?"

"Um, it was just like, for being late." Brian lied.

"Oh, who else was there?" Larry asked.

"Uh, Claire Standish, and some other people." Brian replied.

"Claire Standish had detention?" Larry asked.

"Mhm." Brian nodded.

Their teacher came walking in. Brian was sitting in his seat, slumped over, and started playing with his pencil. He couldn't remember the last time John showed up to class. He actually believed he dropped out of school, but apparently that wasn't so, since John showed up at detention. He never really payed much attention to John before, so he couldn't remember anything about him for sure. Brian was thinking about it, and then John walked in, and sat down.

"So you talked to her?" Larry whispered, curiously.

Brian gave the 'shh' signal and quickly took a glance at Bender, who didn't even notice Brian was there. This was the second time John was taking the class, and John assumed he would be taking it again, since he never showed up this time either.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bender, I need to see you after class." Mrs. Iverson said.

Brian sat up, and looked around nervously.

"Sure thing." John said, sitting back. He figured she wanted to see him for missing class, and he thought she was probably going to tell him he was a lost cause. Brian was very curious as to why she wanted to talk to John. He hoped he wasn't in some kind of major trouble, although, he assumed Bender was. After class, Brian was walking out, and he looked at John, who was still sitting. John noticed him, and he looked surprised to see Brian there. Brian swiftly left the room.

After everyone was gone, John walked up to Mrs. Iverson's desk, and sat down in a front row seat.

"John Bender, as you may know, there is a little problem with your attendance." she said.

"Is there?" John asked, taking out his lighter.

"Now, you still have a few months left, but you have missed a few too many classes, and tests." she explained.

John nodded, pretending to care.

"What do you think we should do about this?" Mrs. Iverson asked.

"Hm, that's tough." John said, sarcastically, "I'd say pass me with flyin' colors, and forget it ever happened." he joked.

"Nice try." she shot back.

John put his legs up on the desk, and sat back, he started messing with the lighter in his hand.

"Something is going to have to change in order for you to pass, and graduate this year." she stated.

John looked down, and didn't say anything. There was part of him that wanted to get as far away as possible from that school, and another part of him never wanted to leave.

"You were doing well in this class, and then you stopped coming." Mrs. Iverson said, sorrowfully, "What's the problem?" she asked. Mrs. Iverson knew Bender's type, she had seen countless people like John before in school, and in her own classes. She wasn't the type of teacher to give up on a student, especially ones like John.

John ignored her, and looked at the ceiling.

"There must be something going on for you to stop showing up." she said.

"What are you?" John asked, "A psychologist?"

"I'm a teacher so that pretty much makes me a psychologist, yes." she joked.

"Screw you." Bender mumbled.

"Listen, Bender, you're not going to get rid of me that easy, because I actually care about my students." Mrs. Iverson stated.

John sat there unfazed.

"We are going to have to do something different." Mrs. Iverson said, nodding in approval with herself, "First of all, we are going to find you a tutor to catch you up."

John sat up from his seat.

"A..tutor?" he asked, looking disgusted, "I'll pass."

"I'm doing you a favor, John." Mrs. Iverson admitted, "Otherwise, I'll have to fail you before the year is even out."

"What about my other classes? I do have other classes, and I think taking away my study hall for a tutor would not be a good decision." John argued.

"Fine, you can do it at home." Mrs. Iverson, smiled, knowing that wasn't really an option.

John laughed to himself.

"I'll let you know about a tutor this week." she said, "Also, you better show up to every class from now on, and if you show that you can do this, I'll see what I can do."

John got up from his seat, and reached for his things. Mrs. Iverson watched him, "I'm sure you'll do the right thing." she said.

* * *

**AN: Does the name Samantha Baker ring a bell to anyone? ;) hehe.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** The weather was pretty gross, and it didn't put me in a mood to write. However, now it's nice out =) so here it is. Thanks for reading.

* * *

After third period, Claire and Samantha were walking in the hall. Claire thought it was best that she didn't try to find John.

"So how did it go?" Sam asked, as she went to lean on a wall.

"How did what go?" Claire asked, stopping to talk to her.

"Detention, silly!" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh, that." Claire said, rolling her eyes.

"It seems like it must have been pretty interesting, considering that girl that came up to you." Sam laughed.

Claire was trying to think fast. She didn't know how much she actually wanted to tell Sam, if anything at all.

"Well, yeah, actually her name is Allison, and, okay, she's weird, but she's actually not_ that_ insane." Claire admitted.

"Oh, did you talk to her or something?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I mean, there wasn't that much to do there, except write a paper." Claire said, at least she wasn't lying, she thought.

"Oh, sounds pretty lame." Sam said.

"Yeah, it was pretty bor-" Claire didn't finish her sentence, because she noticed someone standing in between her, and Sam. She slowly turned, and she saw that it was John.

"Cherry." John greeted her.

"Hi," Claire quickly scanned the both of them, "John." she started walking, while Bender and Sam followed her. Sam looked on, she had only seen John in the halls before. She was questioning what was going on.

"So," John began, "what is goin' on here? Talking about me?" John asked.

Claire wasn't sure if he was joking, and gave a short confused laugh. Sam on the other hand, looked on, she glanced at Claire.

"No." Claire stated, she made it to her locker.

"Who are you again?" Sam asked, looking at John. He looked at her quickly, but didn't respond.

"Maybe we should talk later." Claire suggested to John.

"Or we could talk right now." John said, leaning against a locker. He was now blocking Samantha.

"Or, maybe we can talk later." Claire said, lowering her voice.

John gave a menacing smile, looking at both of them, and walked away, leaving Claire feeling uneasy.

"What just happened?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure." Claire said.

"Well what did he want?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure." Claire said, standing there staring into space.

"Why would you be talking about him?" Sam asked.

"I-" Claire said, "I don't know, I'll see you later." Claire said.

"Okay," Samantha said, "Bye." she couldn't get the words out fast enough, before Claire was gone.

Claire assumed that wasn't the last time she would be talking to John. She thought he understood that her life didn't allow for him to be in it, but then she thought that it was John Bender, and he wasn't going to make things easy.

* * *

Allison was sitting in the hall by her locker, she decided to not go to fourth period. She started walking the halls, till she reached John's locker. She remembered it from detention; also there was no lock. She wondered if he even noticed it was gone. She continued walking the hallway, moving her fingers across the lockers, she wondered which one was Andy's. She knew she was near it, she had seem him in that hallway before, and knew he was a senior. She thought about his patch that was still in her bag. It made her smile. She walked around, trying to hide from teachers and faculty when she saw them coming. She slid down a wall of lockers, and sat on the floor for awhile. When the bell began to ring, she looked at all of the people coming out of classrooms. After some of the people cleared, she peered around the corner. She saw Andrew heading to his locker. She stood up, and looked around the corner again. She looked around for a moment, and then began walking over to him.

"Hi."

Andrew heard a voice behind him, and turned to look, "Hey." he greeted.

"Hey." Allison repeated, smiling, "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Um, putting books in my locker." Andrew laughed.

"_Right_." Allison smirked.

"What are you doing?" Andrew asked.

"Well, I skipped class, and.." Allison said, "walked around."

"Oh." Andrew said, trying not to laugh.

"Then I saw you here." Allison said, "...I figured I'd come say hi."

Andrew closed his locker, and stood there looking at Allison, "Oh..cool."

"Yeah, _cool_." Allison smirked.

"Well, listen, I gotta go." Andrew said, "Maybe I'll see you later."

Allison smiled and nodded, "Okay." she hoped she would.

* * *

Brian walked fast through the hall, he had his next class to get too. He almost didn't hear Mrs. Iverson calling for him. When he saw that it was her, he became nervous. He didn't know why she would need to speak with him.

"Excuse me! Brian Johnson." Mrs. Iverson yelled, outside her door.

"Oh, um, sorry, Mrs. Iverson, I was running be-," Brian tried saying, "because I didn't want to be late to my class."

"You're not in trouble, Johnson." Mrs. Iverson stated, "Come in a minute." she said, walking inside her room.

Brian entered cautiously, he didn't want to be late to his class.

"Come over, and sit down." Mrs. Iverson said, tapping on a desk. Brian, of course, did what he was told.

"Is there something wrong with my grade?" Brian asked, nervously.

"No, of course not, you have the best grade in class." Mrs. Iverson said, "However, that's why I needed to talk to you."

"Do you know who John Bender is? He sits over there." Mrs. Iverson pointed.

Brian's eyes widened, "Um, y-yes, I guess I do." he shrugged.

"You're not his friend?" she asked.

"Uh." Brian wasn't sure how to answer, "N-no." he shook his head.

"Good." she said, "Because I would like you to be his tutor, it's to help his grade, and I need someone who is honest."

"Uh, oh." Brian said, he was becoming sweaty.

"You two seem to have the same study hall, and you're doing perfectly fine in this class, so you were the perfect choice." she said.

"Oh." Brian said.

"It's been awhile since he has come to class, and I want you to help him with what he's missed, and make sure he shows up." she explained.

"Um, okay." Brian agreed, wiping his brow.

"Are you okay, Johnson?" she asked, looking concerened.

"Perfect." Brian smiled.

"Just make sure to fill me in on how you both are doing." she demanded.

"Okay." Brian said, standing, "Is he, um, are we getting graded or something for this?" he asked.

"You don't need to worry about that." she replied, smiling, "Thank you, Brian."

Brain stood there, not moving.

"Goodbye." she smiled.

"Bye." he replied.

Brian returned the smile, and walked out of the classroom. He found himself feeling annoyed. He worked his butt off, and there was John who didn't show up in months who might end up getting away with it, he thought to himself. Even worse, he was the one who had to help him.

* * *

Claire was sitting at a lunch table with a bunch of her friends; she had a bagged lunch as usual, except she wasn't eating it. She was staring at her soda, and stirring it.

"Claire?" her friend Melissa asked; looking at her confused.

"Hey, Claire? Anyone home?" Melissa asked, again.

"Oh, sorry, did one of you say something?" Claire asked her friends.

"Yeah, we have been saying your name, for like, twenty minutes." Jenn said, even though it was far less than that.

"Sorry, I must be sick or something."

"Maybe you caught something from someone in detention." Jenn said laughing.

"Very funny." Claire responded without laughing.

"How was it?" Melissa asked.

"I already asked her how detention was." Sam replied instead, "She had to write a paper." Sam said, looking at Claire.

"Yeah, it was pretty stupid." Claire added; she wondered if Sam had an idea of what was going on.

"Whatever, who was there?" Jenn asked, curiously.

"It was just some kids."Claire stated; she started stirring her soda again.

"But who?" Mellisa asked.

"You probably don't know most of them, Brian Johnson, Andrew Clark, um, and Allison something.." Claire answered.

"Wow, that must have been torture." Jenn said.

"It wasn't totally bad." Claire said.

"Not that bad? You really are sick." Melissa said, while checking Claire's forehead with her hand.

"Well, I mean, Andy was there." Claire shrugged.

"That's true." Melissa said, "I'd die to be stuck in detention with Andrew Clark."

"Ugh, not if you have to spend it with some kid named_ Brian Johnson_." Jenn corrected her, rolling her eyes.

"So, what are we doing this weekend, guys?" Samantha asked, trying to change the subject.

Claire became distracted when she noticed Allison sitting alone, she almost choked on her food. She didn't know Allison was in her lunch period. She, of course, never noticed her before. Allison was taking things out of a lunch bag. Claire thought it looked like the same weird stuff Allison ate in detention. Claire made a face, looking disgusted.

"Are you going to be sick?" Jenn asked, moving her chair, so nothing could possibly reach her.

Sam turned to see what Claire was looking at, and she saw Allison, "Claire?" she asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I don't feel well." Claire said, "I don't know, who knows, maybe I'm grounded this weekend for something."

Claire's friends looked at her, she was acting strange. Allison was eating her Cap'n Crunch lunch, and she noticed Claire sitting with her friends, but she wasn't looking. She started chewing faster, when she finished, she let her mess sit on the table. She got up, and walked casually over to Claire's table, and Claire was seeing it happen. Allison stood near Claire's table with her hands folded, she was scanning the girls around Claire. Jenn, and Sam turned around. Everyone at Claire's table looked at Allison.

"Hello." Claire said, she started getting her trash together.

"Hi." Allison said, "I didn't know you were in my lunch." she said, looking at Claire.

"Well, I am." Claire flashed a smile.

"What were you talking about ear-" Allison started talking, but Claire interrupted, "We'll be right back."

Claire grabbed her trash, and Allison.

"What are you doing?" Claire asked.

"I didn't understand the pencil thing." Allison said, "I was talking about your clothes."

"I know." Claire sighed, "Just keep them."

"Okay." Allison said, "Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"No, everything is fine." Claire said, she threw out her trash, "I'm going to go sit back with my friends."

"Fine." Allison said.

"Bye." Claire flashed a smile, and went to sit down.

Allison went to her table, and threw out her trash. She decided not to sit back down, and instead started walking the halls. She wasn't going anywhere specific. It was better than sitting alone. She saw John in the hallway at his locker. He was getting a jacket. Allison slowly walked up behind him, and John felt her poking him.

"Hey." Allison said.

"What?" John asked.

"Are you going somewhere?" Allison asked.

"I'm going out to smoke." John replied, while quickly showing the cigarettes he had in his hand.

"Yeah." Allison replied, seeing them, "Well, is this your lunch period?" she asked, folding her arms.

"No." John said, "I thought they stopped having hall monitors in the seventh grade." he said, sarcastically.

John began to leave, but Allison stopped him, "Hey, wait a minute."

John stopped, and turned. She was searching through her huge bag.

"Do you always carry that much shit in your bag?" John asked.

She thought that sounded familiar, "I do." Allison replied. She found his lock.

"Here." Allison said, holding it out.

John grabbed it, "_You_ took my lock?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry." Allison laughed.

"Can I ask _why_?" he asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

"I don't know, I mean, why not?" Allison explained, "It could be useful." she added.

"Sure." John laughed, "See ya."

Allison watched him leave, and then looked around at the empty hall. All of a sudden the bell began to ring, and people started coming out of their classes.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N - New chapter! I completely lost everything I wrote in a computer meltdown, but that's okay -breathes-...let's see where this goes :).

* * *

"Would you ever date a girl that was weird?" Andrew whispered, while sitting in the library.

"What do you mean by weird, like, crooked teeth weird?" Alex asked.

Andrew let out a laugh, "No, like, you know, weird."

"Well, I don't know, crooked teeth I can deal with, but schizo weird, I don't know..." Alex stated.

Andrew laughed again, "No, nothing that bad, just kinda off, like, different, you know what I mean?" Andrew asked again.

"Yeah, I guess so, but what is this about man? Who are we talking about?"

"Well, there was someone in detention." Andrew admitted.

"Oh well, the truth comes out, who is it?" Alex asked, curiously.

"SHHHHHH." A girl sitting at another table glared at them.

Andrew tried talking lower, "It doesn't matter, but would you date someone who was different?" He asked.

"Well, if she's really hot, maybe." Alex answered.

Andrew knew that Allison was good looking when she cared about her appearance.

"Are you okay man?" Alex asked. Andrew was staring at the pencil he was holding.

"Yeah." Andrew insisted.

"Hey, as long as it's not that girl, you're good." Alex laughed.

Andrew laughed, assuming he meant the girl sitting at the other table. He than realized Alex motioning behind him, and when he looked back, he saw Allison looking at books. His stomach suddenly felt ill.

"Why? What's wrong with her?" Andrew questioned.

"Do you really gotta ask? She's crazy."

Andrew looked back at Allison. He couldn't have felt any worse, but he was glad she wasn't close enough to hear their conversation. He needed to leave before she saw him.

"I gotta go." Andrew said suddenly.

"The bell didn't ring." Alex stated, looking confused.

Andrew got up, and walked swiftly out of the library doors. Allison took her eyes off the book she was reading, and noticed Andrew leaving. The curiosity killed her. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and headed for the library doors without checking out her book.

* * *

Claire was sitting in study hall next to Melissa. She was staring into her book, pretending to look like she was actually reading something.

"So, Jenn's dad bought her a new car for her birthday, isn't that crazy?" Melissa laughed under her breath.

"Yeah." Claire said, unenthusiastically.

"That's not even the cool part."

"Mhm." Claire mumbled.

"There's supposed to be this awesome party this Saturday right? I found out about it last period. So, like, Jenn said she would totally drive us there."

This made Claire lift her head up, "Really? Where?" She asked curiously.

"Mike Marrone's house." Melissa smiled, "His parents are going out of town for the weekend, it's going to be a blast."

Claire bit her lip, and let out a little smile. She was thinking maybe she had something to look forward to now, and hoped it would be something that would help make her life go back to normal.

"Sounds like a good time, I'll go." Claire smiled.

"Awesome! This is going to be the best weekend ever!" Melissa grabbed onto Claire, almost suffocating her.

"Excuse me, would you and Miss Standish like to spend Saturday in detention?" Mr. Brooks asked from his desk.

"No, Mr. Brooks, sorry." Melissa apologized immediately.

Claire shook her head no, but was laughing in her mind at the thought of another Saturday in detention.

* * *

Andrew was in the restroom leaning over a sink. He looked in the mirror, while thinking about what Alex had said. Even though it was only Alex who answered his question, he knew the rest of his friends would have answered the same way, because all of his friends were the same. They could be judgmental and cruel, and Andrew wasn't much different before he went to detention. The thought of that made him feel even worse.

"Are you okay?" Allison asked, standing at the entrance to the restroom. Andrew jumped, and looked around to see if anyone else was in there with them.

"What the hell are you doing?" Andrew asked her, worried about someone walking in.

"I saw you leave the library, and I was just curious." She asked, "Are you sick or something?"

"No. You have to get out of here. We both will be in shit." Andrew stated.

"I know, I will.."Allison said, "I just want to talk to you."

"When I said I'd see you later, I didn't mean here." Andrew laughed slightly.

Allison smiled, and walked closer to him. Andrew was feeling to many things at the same time. He was still thinking about what Alex said, and his friends, and this whole situation he got himself into. He didn't know if what he was doing would be right or wrong, but for the time being it felt right.

"If something was wrong, I would hope that you would tell me." She said.

"I would." Andrew replied.

Allison held one of Andrew's hands, and kissed him slightly. The door to the restroom opened suddenly, and broke their kiss, and sent Allison flying into one of the stalls. She stood on one of the seats, so she wouldn't be noticed. She hoped no one saw anything, and by the sounds of the guys in there, it seemed like they didn't know. Andrew pretended to take his time washing his hands, and drying them. He looked in the mirror, till some of the guys that came in were washing their hands and leaving. Andrew knocked on the stall that Allison was in when he knew they all were gone.

"Sorry." Allison laughed.

"It's okay." Andrew replied. They both stood there looking around for what seemed like hours.

"I need to go now." Allison let out an awkward laugh.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." Andrew nodded.

"See ya." Allison smiled, and gave a wave.

"Bye." Andrew smiled back.

Allison popped her head out the door, and when the coast was clear she quickly went out into the hall. It was times like these that made her happy that no one noticed her. She walked into the hall casually, and headed for class.

* * *

Brian was feeling nervous about talking to John, he wasn't sure why exactly, but he assumed it was because he was afraid of not being able to help him. He knew John wasn't as terrible as people thought he was, but he still didn't want to tutor him. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if John still ended up failing the class. It wasn't something that was going to be easy. Brian slowly approached John in hall, holding books in one hand, and his other hand in his pocket.

"Hey there Bender." Brian uttered.

"Yeah?" John said coldly.

"What's up?" Brian shrugged. John didn't answer, he just gave him a look that made him uncomfortable.

"Well, um..." Brian began, "Did Mrs. Iverson talk to you at all?" Brian asked, fidgeting.

John stopped, pulling Brian towards the lockers, "Get to the point here, will you Johnson?"

"Um, Mrs. Iverson said that I was going to be your tutor." Brian said, trying not to look directly at him, "Yeah, I mean, I don't know if she told you or anything or.." Brian let out a nervous laugh.

"Fuck." John said under his breath, leaning against a locker.

"Well, I mean, it can't be that bad right Bender?" Brian smiled, giving John a nudge, "You know me, I know you."

"First of all Johnson, you don't know me, and don't even think that you do." John began, "Second of all, why don't you just forget about it?" He asked, walking away.

"Bender, this is your life we're talking about here." Brian said, looking shocked. John rolled his eyes, and kept walking away.

Brian ran awkwardly to catch up to him, "Hey, we're friends, it's you know, it's fine, I'll help you, it's no problem, really."

"Dork, I spent one day in detention with you. We ain't friends." John said angrily, he stopped once again.

"Bender, I have too. Mrs. Iverson said so." Brian said, holding his books at his side.

"Oh yeah?" John asked, sarcastically, "Tell her to shove it."

Brian's mind started racing, he tried thinking of what he would actually tell Mrs. Iverson if John wouldn't do it, "What am I really supposed to tell her?" Brian asked.

John ignored Brian's question, and walked away. Brian stood in the hall, wondering what to do next. He wasn't expecting it to be easy to talk to John, but he certainly wasn't expecting things to go so badly. As he walked to his next class, his mind searched for a way to help Bender.


	5. Chapter 5

Brian sat in class thinking of a solution to his tutoring problem, he was thinking about making some kind of deal with John. However, first he decided he wanted to talk to Claire.

"Hey Claire." Brian greeted, while walking up to her in the hall.

Claire was standing at her locker, "Hey, Brian."

"So, how's it going?" Brian asked her.

"Um, fine. Do you need something?" Claire was arranging things in her locker.

"Oh, uh, no, just stopping by to say hey." Brian waved awkwardly.

"Oh okay, well hi." Claire smiled, she wondered if he was going to stand there all day.

"Yeah, hi." Brian repeated.

Claire closed her locker, and looked at Brian, "Are you like, going to follow me around or something?"

"No, no." Brian laughed.

"Okay, well, see ya around."

Claire turned to walk away, but Brian stopped her before she got very far.

"Actually, can I talk to you a minute?" He asked her.

"What is it?" Claire sighed.

"I might need your help with something."

"I can't make any promises, but what is it?" Claire asked, curiously.

"Hey Claire, what are you doing?" Sam said, coming up behind Claire.

"Oh hey, Sam this is Brian, Brian this is Sam." Claire introduced them.

"Hey." Brian waved and smiled.

"Hi." Sam replied.

"We gotta go to class." Sam said, looking at Brian, she grabbed Claire's arm to start walking.

"Ladies, wait a minute, Claire, please I need your help." Brian begged, holding his hands together, looking desperate.

Claire stood there feeling slightly embarrassed, but she didn't want to feel guilty about this, "Sam, I'll meet you in class."

"Okay." Sam said, with her face scrunched up.

Claire pulled Brian around a corner, so they weren't out in the open.

"You know Mrs. Iverson, she teaches math, Algebra two, specifically." Brian explained.

"Yeah, so what?"

"She told me I have to tutor John." Brian blurted out.

"That's it?" Claire sneered, "What do you want me to do about it?" She shrugged.

"I told him about it, and he you know, he just had a cow." Brian rolled his eyes, "I thought maybe you could talk to him or something."

Claire laughed to herself, "Figures."

Claire felt slightly angry; she didn't understand how John could just not care about anything.

"I thought maybe he'd like, listen to you."

"Yeah right, he'll listen to me." Claire said, sarcastically.

"Can you at least try?" Brian asked, helplessly.

"I'll see what I can do, but I'm still not making any promises." She replied.

* * *

After classes were over, Allison was at her locker, she was throwing things in her bag, and throwing things out, trying to hurry. She wanted to catch up with Andrew before he left, since he didn't talk to her since the incident in the bathroom. She kicked her locker shut, as she held her bag, and started maneuvering herself around people in the hall. She saw Andrew going outside, and she rushed to catch up to him, by the time she did they were both outside. Andrew looked like he had a ride waiting for him. Allison ran up behind him, and tugged on his jacket.

"Hey." Allison greeted him, "You walk fast." She laughed.

"Hey." Andrew smiled.

"Are you going home?" Allison asked.

"Yeah, aren't you?" He asked her.

"Yeah." Allison looked around, unsure of herself. _It was like her to not know what to do when things start working out_, she thought.

"Can I call you later?"

Allison's eyes grew, and her heart started racing. She hoped he didn't notice, because she didn't want to ruin this.

"Yeah." She let out a childlike laugh, and quickly opened her bag. She rummaged through everything, and tried to find a pen. She found one buried deep down, and grabbed it.

"Give me your arm." She pulled Andrew's arm to her, and wrote her number, "Now, don't go home and wash it off." She warned.

"I won't." Andrew smiled, "Talk to you later." Andrew gave Allison a quick kiss.

"Bye." Allison waved.

Andrew walked to his ride that was waiting for him, and Allison watched till the car left. She smiled happily, and started walking to her house, which was a few blocks away. Allison always enjoyed her walks home, because they were peaceful, and sometimes she would sit in the park and draw, or just watch people. Her house was light green in color, two stories, and had a porch with a swing. It wasn't fancy, but it wasn't unattractive either, it was just normal, unlike herself. She checked the mailbox, but nothing came for her as usual. Nothing ever did, but she always checked anyway. When she got inside, she headed right for the stairs, she was half way up when her mom called to her.

"Allison!" Mrs. Reynolds yelled.

Allison closed her eyes, because her mother's voice tended to annoy her. She walked down a few steps, and looked over the railing, "What?"

"What are you doing making all that noise? How many times do I have to tell you about that?" Mrs. Reynolds, came storming out of the kitchen.

Allison rolled her eyes, "Sorry." She apologized.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, who do you think you are?" Mrs. Reynolds said sternly.

"I'm sorry, can I please go upstairs now?" Allison asked politely.

"We are eating dinner in a half an hour, it's meatloaf, and you're eating it." Mrs. Reynolds pointed at her.

"Okay." Allison sighed, she hated meatloaf. She started walking back upstairs.

Allison went quickly into her room, trying not to make a lot of noise in the process. She shut her door, and leaned on her door, smiling. Not even her family could piss her off today. She threw her bag down, which her mom heard from downstairs, but luckily, she didn't say anything. After putting on a record, she sat down on her bed with her notebook, and got ready to sketch.

* * *

Claire figured she had to talk to John, or else she would feel even worse. The bad part about it she thought, was that a person never knew what to expect when trying to have a conversation with John Bender. She did think for a moment that maybe Brian was right, and John would actually listen to her. While Claire was getting ready to leave school, her heart began racing, realizing she was more nervous than she thought about talking to John. When the bell rang, she thought she might throw up, but she took a couple of deep breaths, and closed her locker.

"This week is going to be so long." Sam sighed.

Claire laughed, thinking if it was going to be long for Sam, it was going to be even longer for herself, "Yeah, I know."

"Are you okay?" Sam seemed concerned.

"Yeah, why?"

"No offense, but you have been acting weird all day." Sam explained.

"I'm sorry, I just had a shitty weekend, and a long day."

"That's no way for a future prom queen to act!" Sam smiled.

Before Claire went to detention, prom was one of the only things on her mind, but now her thoughts tended to be about a certain person, "How do you know I'll even win?"

"I don't." Sam laughed, "But, I don't see why you wouldn't."

"Maybe because I'm up against Jennifer." Claire said convincingly, "Hey, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

After she parted with Sam, Claire hid in the ladies' room for a few minutes, till she thought her friends were gone. She left the bathroom, and went in search for Bender, hoping he didn't already skip out. She remembered where his locker was because of detention, but she didn't find him there. When she walked outside of the school, she could see him walking. Her parents were going to show up any minute, so she had to get it over with.

"John." Claire caught up with him, and continued walking with him, "Hey."

John slowed down, but kept walking, "Had a change of heart, huh?'

Claire wasn't sure how to take that, but she paid no attention, "I'm sorry about today, I didn't want to be a bitch."

"Then why act like one?" John wouldn't even look at her.

"I don't know." Claire stopped, "My friends were around." She admitted to him.

"Who the hell cares?" John asked rudely.

She could feel herself boiling over, "I don't want to be a bitch, but I just am. It's my friends, my parents, it's everything, you know? I can't help it. Didn't we talk about this? I don't think I can just change like maybe everyone else can. I don't even know if I want things to be any different."

It was like John already knew what Claire was going to say, but it still pissed him off. It bothered him that she just wanted to continue being like her friends. He didn't really think everything could just be the same between them as it was before Saturday.

"And you know, you tested me today." Claire's voice became high, "You tested me to see what I would do when you talked to me with my friends around." Claire's mixture of nervousness and anxiousness made her start saying everything that was in her mind, much to her embarrassment.

"Yeah, nice try, but you failed." John said.

"Why do you have to be such an ass? And why do you think everyone else have to change, but you?" Claire asked, "You're not perfect."

"I never said I was." John said, stopping in front of her, his tallness hovering over, "Even if I do happen to be smarter, better looking, and an overall more fantastic person than most of the people I come in contact with on a daily basis." he said obnoxiously.

Claire wanted to laugh, but couldn't get herself too, she glared at him instead, knowing he was trying to be a smart ass.

"John, I like you, but If you expect others to change, you need to be able to change too." Claire tried to explain.

John didn't say anything, but he was still hovering over her. Claire looked at him, and then kissed him, but it didn't last long.

"I'm sorry." Claire said sorrowfully; her face told John that she was being serious.

John watched her as she turned away, there was a car up the street waiting for her. Claire got into the passenger side of her dad's car.

"Who's that guy?" Mr. Standish asked.

"It's just a guy." Claire said, folding her arms.

"A guy I should know about?" Her dad asked.

"I don't think so." Claire sighed.

As her dad drove home, she realized she didn't mention anything about Brian, but she was too confused about her situation with John to care much about it. John had started walking home again; it felt all too much like Saturday when they left each other he thought, but he didn't feel as empty the last time.

* * *

Allison was sitting at the dinner table with her family, stuffing food in her mouth. She wanted to try to finish eating before Andrew called.

"Allison, it's going to be getting warmer out, why wear all that black?" Mr. Reynolds asked, laughing to himself.

"I like black." Allison said with her mouthful.

"What's the hurry?" Mr. Reynolds asked.

"She has to get back to being boring." Kathy said grinning. Allison stared a hole through her sister, but decided not to comment.

"Allison, didn't we teach you better than that?" Mrs. Reynolds asked.

"I'm not in a hurry." Allison lied, "It's just, I don't really like meatloaf."

"Your mother spends a lot of time in this kitchen making dinner for us, you should be more respectful. Not only that, but there's people starving all over." Mr. Reynolds said with a huff.

"I'm sorry." Allison apologized, looking at both of her parents, when she looked at Kathy she was smiling. Allison didn't hate her younger sister, but she really, really annoyed her.

Allison's parents didn't respond to the apology, instead they all continued to sit at the table in silence, with nothing but the sound of forks and knives scraping plates. Allison began thinking about Andrew calling her, and how a week ago she would have never dreamed of something like that happening. _A jock calling me at my house would of had to been a prank call,_ she thought to herself.

"I'm finished, can I be excused?" Allison asked.

"I suppose. Clean your plate." Mrs. Reynolds demanded.

Allison went over to the counter, and cleaned her plate, doing it quickly. After, she went up to her room, and began wondering around, biting her finger nails. Eventually she was laying on her bed, with her eyes getting heavy. Every once in awhile, she would catch herself. She was starting to think Andrew wasn't going to call. It wasn't until she accidentally fell asleep, that she heard her sister calling her.

"Allison, there's some boy on the phone!" Kathy screamed upstairs.

Allison jumped out of bed, and grabbed her phone, almost making it fall on the floor.

"Hello?" Allison answered, sitting on the floor.

"Hey." Andrew said.

"Kathy, hang up the phone now." Allison demanded, but she didn't hear a click.

"Kathy, please hang up the phone." Allison repeated. Finally she heard a click.

"Sorry, that was my little sister. She's a brat." Allison said, feeling embarrassed.

"It's okay, I understand." Andrew said, "I can't talk long, I just got back from practice."

"Oh, okay." Allison sounded disappointed.

"Would you want to do something this week?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, of course." Allison agreed.

"Okay, well what are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Nothing." Allison smirked to herself.

"Okay, then I'll pick you up at eight."

"Great. See ya at school."

Allison hung up the phone, feeling ecstatic. She knew she would spend the rest of the night thinking about what they would do the following day, so she decided to go to bed early that night.


	6. Chapter 6

It was Tuesday, and Allison looked in her mirror. Music was playing loudly on her record player. The day was fairly normal for Allison, except she spent most of the day thinking about hanging out with Andrew. Andrew was going to be picking her up at any moment. She looked in the mirror, trying to decide what to do with herself. She spent over a half an hour picking out something to wear from her limited wardrobe. What was left was a bunch of clothing tossed on the floor. She ended up wearing the white shirt Claire gave her, a knee-length black skirt, sweater, and to top it all off, a belt. The only nice one she had. The only thing she had to do now was her hair and face. She looked into the mirror, and finally decided to pin some of it back. _Something was still missing_, she thought. She opened her door, and went to her parent's room. When she got there, she found her mom's make up, and decided to use some mascara; remembering how Claire showed her. After a few mishaps, she was finally done. She walked to her bedroom, and took one last look. She let out a sigh, she thought she looked rather nice. She smiled and walked downstairs. Her parents were doing this and that, unaware that she had plans. Allison sat in the living room, quietly, every now and then she would look at the clock.

"Why are you just sitting in here?" Kathy asked, walking into the room.

"I'm waiting." Allison responded.

"Waiting for what?"

Allison sighed, not sure if she really wanted to talk about it with Kathy.

"I kind of have a date." Allison shrugged, but let out a small smile.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not lying." Allison looked at her sister, angrily.

"Well, when is this person suppose to come?" Kathy asked.

"Any minute." Allison looked at the clock. Andrew was already twenty minutes late.

* * *

Andrew was laying on his bed, throwing a ball up and catching it. He was all ready to go to Allison's house, but he was waiting to leave. He didn't want to get there early, and look like a chump. He looked at his alarm clock, and decided it was a good time to leave. He was going to have to use his parent's car. Andrew and Claire lived further away from school than Allison, Brian, and John. They lived in a nicer part of town.

"Andrew, why aren't you ready?" asked his father, looking in his room.

"Ready?" Andrew wondered what he was talking about.

"You have a match tonight, you need to be ready in five minutes!" His dad yelled.

"I-" Andrew began, his head was spinning, trying to come up with a response.

"Yeah, okay." Andrew said, as his dad left his room.

Andy completely forgot about a match he had that evening. For a second he thought of not going, but he knew that wasn't an option. He couldn't let everyone down.

* * *

"Is it the guy that was on the phone?" Kathy asked.

"Yeah." Allison answered. She got up, and looked out the window.

"He probably ain't comin'." Kathy snapped.

"I'm going to sit outside and wait." Leaving her sister in the living room, Allison went outside, and sat on the steps leading to her porch. She was starting to worry.

She sat on the steps, fiddling with her clothing, her hands, and the paint on the steps; anything to keep her distracted.

"You're wasting your time." Kathy said, poking her head out of the door.

"Go away." Allison said, looking over her shoulder.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn ya." Kathy shut the door behind her.

Allison rolled her eyes, and stood up to walk around. She started to pace the porch. After a few more minutes, she was starting to believe her sister was actually right.

* * *

Andrew was ready to go to his match, but he knew he had to call Allison to let her know he wasn't going to make it. He picked up his phone, and started to dial Allison's number.

"Andrew let's go!" his father yelled to him.

"Be right there!" Andy yelled back.

Andrew waited anxiously for someone to pick up the phone at Allison's house. His parents were becoming restless waiting for him.

"Hello?" Allison's mom answered the phone, but no one was on the other end.

Andrew hung up the phone, and ran outside. His dad was mumbling to himself, annoyed.

"How could you forget you had a match tonight?"

"I didn't forget." Andrew replied.

"Don't lie to me. Where is your head at?"

Andrew didn't answer him, he looked out the window. After all, he didn't know the answer to the question. He knew Allison was going to be upset, but he hoped he could explain himself at school the next day.

* * *

The sun was starting to go down, and Allison had a sick feeling in her stomach. She walked inside, hoping her sister wasn't around to harass her. She walked to the kitchen, and started looking through drawers for a phone book. When she found one, she searched for the last name Clark, but she didn't know Andy's parent's names. Unfortunately she found out there were at least thirty other people with the last name Clark. She got a hold of the phone in her kitchen, and started going down the list of numbers.

"Hello, is Andy there?" Allison asked each time, only once did she find someone named Andrew. However, he was an older gentleman who didn't appreciate her call.

Allison hung up the phone when she got to number sixteen. She closed up the phone book, and decided it wasn't worth it. She knew he wasn't coming. She felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness fall over her. She didn't want to be at home. Allison walked swiftly through her house, and back outside. Instead of waiting on the porch she started walking. Some tears were falling down her face, but by the time she had gone a few blocks down the street, she had wiped them all away. She continued walking till she didn't recognize most of the houses from her usual walk. She was still upset, but she felt like the walk was doing her some good. She stopped when she got to a row of some houses that all looked basically the same. She wondered what people were doing in them. She assumed there were probably kids getting yelled at, people making dinner, and probably some people playing cards. Why she thought people would be playing cards, she didn't know. She just liked the thought of it. Allison sat down on the sidewalk, before she started making her way back home. There was some noise coming from one of the driveways, but she couldn't see what they were doing, because some bushes were in the way.

Allison stood up, and let out a breath. When she looked back at the noise, she saw Bender moving what looked like car parts somewhere. She stood there staring down the street, wondering what he was doing, and if it was worth the effort to find out. He kept going behind the bushes, and then would come out, carrying things.

"What are you doing?" Allison asked, walking around the bushes, peering onto Bender's driveway.

"Fuck!" John yelled, and Allison heard some things fall. John was on the ground, looking under the car.

Allison scrunched her face, she didn't think that sounded good. John came out from under the car, not looking to happy.

"What the fuck are _you_ doing here?" John asked her.

"I was taking a walk." Allison replied.

"I think it's past your bed time." John said, looking at his finger that he hurt.

"I didn't know you lived here." John's sarcastic spats didn't phase Allison. Actually, she found him to be somewhat humorous. Sometimes, that is.

"Yeah, and I wish you still didn't." John got up, and started moving things around. There was an assortment of car objects, and tools around him.

"So, what are you doing? How can you see? It's getting dark out."

"The only way I'm gonna have a car, is if I fix this one. Okay?" John answered, "And I have this thing called a light. It helps people like you and me see in the dark." John replied, as he flashed a bright light in Allison's face.

"You only live a few blocks away from me." Allison blinked, blinded by the bright light that was just flashed in her face.

"Cool, we can like, totally hang out." John said, in an unusual voice. He was back under the car again.

Allison smiled, "Why do you work on the car at night?" she asked.

John rolled his eyes, even though Allison couldn't see it, "Because."

"I didn't see you in school today." she said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, because I wasn't there." John replied.

"Do you think it's a good idea to skip school all the time?" Allison asked, curiously.

"It's good for me." John replied, getting back out from under the car. He started getting things together, "I've seen you skip class too, ya know?"

Allison stiffened up, she didn't realize anyone noticed that, "Yeah, but it's different."

"How so?" John asked. He looked up at her, he was very interested in the answer.

"I don't flunk out." Allison smirked.

John became agitated, "Yeah, well, when I'm not in school, I work." John said as he put things away in a tool box, "Which is more than you can say."

"I work." Allison said.

"Yeah right." John laughed to himself, "What do you do? Make bombs?" he mumbled.

"I work on my art." Allison looked around, it was getting late.

"I have a job." John explained, "I figure if I ain't goin' to college, what's the point? I don't need to graduate from some stupid fucking school. I know everything I need to know."

"Well, I think it would still be good to graduate." Allison commented.

"My dad didn't graduate from any school. Who cares?" John asked.

"Yeah, because you want to be like your dad." Allison stated.

John looked at her with a glare, "Well, why the fuck are you so smart then?" he asked, standing up.

"It's called studying." Allison snickered, "I do everything I'm supposed to do, I just do it while avoiding people."

John looked at Allison, "I suppose avoiding people is a good thing." he said, sarcastically.

"No, it's not." Allison admitted, "It's getting late."

"Yeah." John said, while lighting up a cigarette.

"I gotta go. See you in school tomorrow?"

"Maybe." Bender replied. John watched Allison leave for a moment, and then picked up the toolbox. He went to the back of his house, where there was a small shed, and he put things he was using away. He walked to the back of his house, and finished his cigarette.

"Are you gonna eat?" Mrs. Bender asked.

"I was busy." John replied, while walking into the kitchen. John very rarely sat down to eat with his parents, but he was starving.

"Workin' on that damn car, huh John?" his dad asked, not expecting an answer, "When do you think you're gonna get it done, next July?" he laughed, but no one else did.

"He has school."

"He needs to work." Mr. Bender said, harshly.

"Well, I don't know, school should always come first." Mrs. Bender said, trying not to sound too forward.

"You know John, that car takes up the fucking driveway. It belongs in front of the house." his father insisted.

"Whatever." John said, as he got up. He couldn't sit there with his parents he decided. His parents watched him walk off to his room. In his absence, he could hear his parents arguing. It went from being about him, to something else entirely, which is what usually happened. He went in his room, and sat on his bed. He lit up another cigarette, grabbed his bass, and started to strum it. He wanted some pot, but was all out. He couldn't wait to finish fixing up his car, so he could go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted. For a few minutes he wondered what Claire was doing, he assumed she was probably doing her nails. They avoided each other all day at school, it was as if nothing ever happened. He put his hand to his ear, and felt the earring she left him. He put out his cigarette, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Allison ran up the steps to her house, and entered. She went into the living room where her family was sitting.

"Did anyone call for me?" She asked.

"No." Mr. Reynolds replied.

Allison walked upstairs, and went to her room to get ready for bed.

Allison opened her door to see Kathy standing in the hall, "Okay, you were right. Just leave me alone, okay?"

"No. I came to tell you that I'm sorry he didn't show up."

Allison looked surprised, it wasn't often that her sister showed some sympathy, "It was probably just a mistake."

"Thanks." Allison smiled.

Kathy smiled back, "Goodnight."

"Night." Allison said, closing the door.

She went to her bed, and got under the covers; hoping her sister was right.


	7. Chapter 7

The morning sun was shining over Shermer High, and students were starting to surround the front of the school, ready to start another day. Andrew had just arrived, and he sat on the steps thinking about what he was going to say to Allison. He was practically talking to himself, trying to come up with his apology. As more people arrived to school, it became harder to tell if Allison was even there; that is till he spotted a girl with an overflowing book bag.

Andrew got up, and walked around some people talking, "Hey." he greeted.

Allison was trying to get situated with her bag, and looked up at him, "Hey." the way she replied made it obvious that she was not very happy with him.

"I'm sorry about yesterday." Andrew apologized, "I forgot I had a match, I had to go."

Allison hesitated for a moment, "Why didn't you call me?" she asked, "I stood around waiting, and.."

"I was running late, and my parents were angry.." Andrew interrupted, "I have another match tonight, you should go." he had already let the words escape his mouth, before realizing that was either a really good or really terrible idea.

Allison was shocked by the invite, but she wanted to go, "I'll go, and I'll show up too." she jabbed.

Andrew was relieved, and he gave her the details. He told her when it was, and that they could see each other after; to make up for the previous day. They said goodbye as the bell began to ring. Allison walked into school slowly, dreading the fact she was going to have to sit through classes all day. She spotted Brian near his locker, he looked discontent, but she wasn't sure what was wrong. She walked up to him, as he was practically throwing books into his locker.

"What's going on?" Allison asked, leaning against the row of lockers.

"Hi." he replied with a slight attitude, "Nothing."

"Are you sure? You are throwing books into your locker." Allison watched.

Brian stopped, and looked at her, "I'm just stressed."

"Kay." Allison replied. She put her back against the lockers, and watched people walk by.

"You know.." she said, "I don't know who half of these people are." Allison looked at him.

They both laughed. Brian noticed Allison was still smiling.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked.

Allison giggled slightly, "I'm going to one of Andy's matches later."

"Really? He invited you?" Brian sounded surprised.

"Yeah. Yesterday I got stood up, but I guess it was all a mistake. So hopefully today...I don't know, it will work out." she smiled.

"So maybe things have changed after all?" Brian smirked, but it quickly disappeared, "Or maybe not...I need to find John."

Allison's face scrunched up, "Why?"

"Long story. I gotta go find him. I'll talk to you later." Brain closed his locker.

"Bye!" Allison yelled to him, as he drifted through people in the hall.

The only thing left for Brian to do, he decided, was to try to talk to him one more time. Ultimately, it was going to be John's decision, after all, Brian didn't think he would get in trouble for John not wanting help. It was going to upset him though. He knew John really wanted to graduate, even if he was too thick headed headed to admit it. _Why would someone actually want to stay in high school anyway?_ Brian thought to himself. He scurried around the halls, looking for him. He wasn't at his locker. Eventually, it became clear Bender wasn't anywhere, till he remembered who he was looking for. He had to look at the unconventional places. He checked behind most of the stairwells, and the clock was ticking, soon he was going to be late for class. At one of the stairwells, he saw a guy that looked like he would probably know Bender.

"Uh, excuse, excuse me." Brian hesitated.

"Yeah?" the guy looked at Brian.

Brian thought he looked too high to even give him an answer. Then again, anyone not wearing a sweater vest and khakis looked high to Brian.

Brian tried to relax "Uh, yeah, John Bender, where is he?" he tried to sound normal.

"Oh, yeah, Bender, he's probably outside." the guy replied.

"Outside?" Brian asked, hoping for a better answer.

"Yeah, you know, the door." the guy explained.

Brian laughed, "Oh yeah, the door...the door." he had no idea what door he was talking about, "What door was that again?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"C'mon man, the cafeteria door." he laughed.

The cafeteria door was not only obviously near the cafeteria, but it was the only door that didn't make the alarm go off when someone opened it. The school either didn't know it didn't work, or they thought students were too stupid to figure it out. Most students believed it was the latter, but no one was complaining.

"Oh yeah..." Brian smiled, "Uh, wait, I didn't hear the alarm go off."

"Man every kid here knows that one doesn't work." he was now sure Brian was a geek.

"Oh, yeah, right, duh." Brian hit his head with his hand.

The guy laughed to himself, and walked up the stairs.

Brian made his way through the halls, he noticed more and more people were already in their classes. When he got to the hallway where this door was, he looked around, making sure no one was around that would tell him to get to class. He couldn't believe he was doing it, but needed to get this over with. He could feel himself starting to sweat. Then he got to the doors. He looked around, and opened them quickly. He listened, but didn't hear anything, thankfully. When he got outside, he saw John smoking by himself. John noticed him, thinking it was a teacher.

"Pick up a new habit, geek?" Bender asked, finishing off the last of his cigarette.

"Uh..no. Actually, I was looking for you." it was obvious Brian was somewhat frightened of getting caught outside, he kept looking around, just waiting for Vernon to show his face.

"And you made it out here? Well, I must say, I'm shocked." John said with a snarky tone, he threw his cigarette to the ground, and put it out.

"Listen, Bender." Brian said, walking closer to John.

John stepped back, _is he trying to sound like he **isn't** a dweeb?_ he thought to himself, and _for fuck's sake why were they outside alone together?_

"This...this is your last chance, and the last time I'm like, going to ask you..." Brian tried to sound tough, but John lightly pushed him out of the way with his arm, and walked past him to the door.

"When are we going to meet up dork?" John asked.

Brian forgot what he was even going to say, "Oh, meet up, yeah, you mean for class?" Brian nodded his head.

"Uh, yeah, dweeb, for class." John nodded his head, mocking Brian.

"Um, yeah, just later in the library." Brian said, putting his hands in his pockets.

John didn't say anything, but rolled his eyes, and walked inside. Brian stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened, and then looked around, realizing he was alone outside. He ran to the door, and opened it up. When he got inside, Vernon was towering over him. He looked around for John, but didn't see him anywhere.

"Maybe you would like to spend another Saturday in detention, Mr. Jenson." Verson folded his arms.

"Um, no, no sir, and, and my name is Johnson, um, Brian Johnson." Brian's hands clenched inside his pockets.

"Oooh, What were you doing outside, Mr. _Johnson_?" Vernon's face looked almost ecstatic.

"Uh, nothing sir, just, um, I, I had this paper, and I thought I lost, I mean dropped it outside, and I went to uh look for it, but, yeah, I don't see it." Brian smiled for a second, "sir."

"Oh, really?" Vernon put his finger to his mouth, looking inquisitive.

"Yes, sir, that's, that's all I was doing." Brian knew he wasn't a good liar, but hoped by the grace of God he would actually believe him.

"I think you are lying Johnson." Vernon said, sternly.

"No sir, uh, why would I lie to you? I mean, that, that would be silly sir, stupid really." Brian laughed lightly.

"I certainly don't know Mr. Johnson, but you can tell me on Saturday." Vernon gave Brian a crooked smile, "Go back to class, Johnson." he said, walking away.

"Ye-yes, sir." Brian scurried back to the hallway where his class was. When he got there, he let out a breath. He had felt like he was suffocating for the last twenty minutes. He hit the back of his head against a locker, and looked at the ceiling. _If it wasn't one thing, it was another,_ he thought to himself. As his nerves finally slowed down, he became frustrated. He could feel his eyes welling up, _shit_, he thought. He hit the locker he had his back too. He rubbed his eyes, and walked slowly to his class.

The day went on, with little excitement. Allison's head was somewhere else during every class, her teachers just sounded like a bunch of noise to her. She was too busy thinking about going to Andrew's match. She knew she would be out of her element, but surprisingly to her, she didn't care. Andrew was glad things worked out, and that she didn't completely hate him, but now he was nervous. It was bad enough having to perform well for his parents, now he had to worry about Allison too.

Brian couldn't think about anything else but detention, and having to go through the hell of telling his parents, again. He bet that he was the only kid at Shermer to get caught going outside in the past twenty years.

As much as Bender hated it, he went to his classes, he didn't know what was going on in them, but he went nonetheless. He definitely didn't want to be like his dad, even if it was mostly inevitable, it wouldn't hurt to try. He wasn't sure when he changed his mind about Brian tutoring him, he thought maybe it was after the talk he had with Allison, or maybe when he woke up, or maybe in the awkwardness of standing outside with him. Either way, he was going to dread it, but he knew it wouldn't be the worse thing to happen to him, that spot was designated to Claire Standish. John couldn't have known, but Claire hadn't stopped thinking about him since she last spoke to him.

She wished he knew how much she wanted things to work out, but it was like everything was against them, even themselves. Luckily she did have other things to occupy her mind with, like prom, and all of the activities she was involved in.

The bell rang for Claire's lunch period, as she got up from her desk.

"Ahh!" Sam screamed, outside of their class.

"Oh my God, Sam, like, don't have a cow." Jennifer complained.

Claire gave a muddled laugh, as Sam clung onto her.

"I'm sorry!" Sam exclaimed, "It's just that Kevin was totally staring at me."

"Give it up Sam, Kevin doesn't like you." Jennifer stated, rather bluntly.

Sam looked at Claire, and rolled her eyes. When they got to the cafeteria, Allison was sitting alone at her table, this time she had a sandwich with peanut butter, pickles, and miracle whip. Claire gave her a small smile as she passed by, but didn't say anything. Allison didn't do anything, she just looked at her while eating her strange concoction.

"Guys, seriously, he was looking right at me all through class. What should I do?" Sam asked, sitting down.

"Nothing." Claire started taking out her food, "If he likes you, he'll let you know."

Of course Claire knew how complicated that could be.

"Ladies, what are we talking about?" Melissa asked, joining the table.

"Kevin Wilson likes me, he was staring at me all through class, and now I don't know what to do, I mean, I had a feeling he did because.." Sam barely had any air left, and Jenn butted in.

"Anyway, so I was talking to Tiffany Thomson; she's doing the votes, and she thinks that I totally have the in for prom queen." Jennifer's face grew brighter.

"Well, I knew you'd win anyways." Melissa stated.

Claire put on a fake smile, "That's great."

Claire really did want to win prom queen, but she wasn't going to let it show. She figured she had a better chance to win if she didn't act like a total bitch.

When lunch was almost over, Claire and Sam sat together alone. They were both thinking the same thing, what bitches their friends could be.

"Sam, I think there is something I need to talk to you about." Claire said, playing with her paper bag.

"What is it?" Sam asked, sounding concerned.

"It's not bad or anything, it's just that I need to talk to someone you know, and I trust you." Claire explained.

"Okay, what is it?" Sam asked again.

"Well.." As soon as Claire began, Melissa and Jenn were coming back to the table, and the bell rang.

"Never mind, I'll tell you later." Claire said, getting up.

Sam still looked concerned, but she looked at Melissa and Jenn, and figured she wasn't going to push the subject. They all headed to their next class.

Brian wasn't having the best day, and eventually the time came when Brian had to meet up with John, he found him in the hallway.

"Hey, John, ready to get crackin'?" Brian laughed.

John wasn't laughing, he slammed his locker shut, and just started walking, with Brian following him.

"Now is a good time?" Brian asked.

"Now is a perfect time." John said, going into the library.

Brian followed John to a small desk. John sat down, and put his legs up. Brian looked around, hoping they weren't going to get in trouble.

"Is this your study hall?" Brian asked, sitting down.

"Nope." John said, he was playing with a pencil.

"Oh, your lunch?" Brian asked.

"Nope." John repeated.

"Then shouldn't you be in class?" Brian asked.

"Do you wanna do this or not?" John looked at him.

Brian didn't answer him, and he opened up his math book, "Okay, we-well, where should we start?"

"At the beginning." John quipped.

"Okay, well, let's start at chapter five, since we are going to uh, have a test soon." Brian started flipping through pages, "Do yo-you have your book?"

"Nope." John was still in the same sitting position. Brian looked on, thinking how long the hour was going to feel like.

"Well, do you know anything about slopes?" Brian asked, he started tapping his pencil on his book.

John just looked at him, and Brian stared back. He really hoped it wasn't going to be this bad.

"Okay, well m equals y.." Brian started explaining what they were learning in their class.

After twenty minutes of explaining it in great detail, Brian made John try to do some problems himself. Brian sat looking around, tapping his pencil, trying not to think about what happened with Vernon earlier in the day. When John was done, he handed the paper to Brian, and sat back. Brian examined it, and looked up at Bender.

"This is all correct." Brian sounded surprised.

"Well yeah, I kind of had to sit here and listen to you babble about it for the past thirty minutes."

"Okay, well, let's see if you can do a harder one." Brian started writing another problem, and gave it to Bender. Within a few minutes, he handed it back.

"It's all right." Brian chirped, he was almost happy.

"Are we done now?" Bender asked, his head on the back of his chair.

"Well, no there's more, but I guess we can do it in detention." Brian groaned.

"Dentention?" John's head lifted.

"Yeah, remember, when uh, I went outside to talk to you, Vernon caught me coming back in."

John started laughing.

"It's really not funny." Brian said, angrily.

"Yeah, it really is." John was still laughing.

Brian just shook his head, and got his things together.

"Hey, do you still need help with that lamp?" John stopped laughing for a second.

"No, I was already graded for it." Brian shrugged.

"Talk to your teacher, maybe the asshole will give you another chance." John suggested.

"I doubt it." Brian knew that was a long shot.


	8. Chapter 8

_Been thinking how to escape?_  
_ This strait-jacket of constraint_  
_ Been thinking what can be wrong?_  
_ With feelings that long to belong_

_- Stargazer, Siouxsie and The Banshees  
_

* * *

Allison arrived at the school for Andy's match. When she walked in, she noticed how strange it was to be there when everyone had left, other than those who did sports or activities. It was more strange than being there on a Saturday morning, even. She walked down the creepy halls, where all she could hear was her footsteps. Then she found herself outside of the gym. She opened the door slightly, and looked in. She saw people sitting on the bleachers, and suddenly she felt really out of place.

She walked in, while feeling like everyone's eyes were on her. She hurried over to the seats, and climbed all the way to the top. She peered down at the people that were there. It wasn't full, but there were still pretty many people. She saw people getting situated on the floor, and pretty soon she realized she wasn't just going to be watching Andy. She rested her head in her hands, as she watched three wrestling matches, she wasn't even sure who the people were. When she finally spotted Andrew, she lifted her head and yawned. She leaned back on the wall, and watched. It looked like Andy was doing pretty good, but really Allison had no idea what was going on.

_It's not like wrestling is rocket science,_ she thought to herself, then she shook her head, _did I really just sound like Bender just now?_ She couldn't help but feel bad that she wasn't exactly enjoying this. It really was just a bunch of guys rolling around in tights. She found herself drifting off, but Andrew did well, and then it looked like it was over. She walked down the bleachers, and saw that Andrew noticed her. She smiled and waved to him. She went outside, and sat on the steps in front of school, waiting for him.

Allison heard the doors opening, and looked back to see who it was. She stood up, and waited for Andrew to meet her.

"Hey." Andrew greeted her, he had a bag in his hand with his wrestling things.

"Hey." Allison greeted him back with a smile.

Allison followed him, as he continued walking, "So, where are we going?"

"Wanna go get something to eat?" he asked.

She nodded her head almost violently, "I'm starving." she laughed.

"Me too." Andrew laughed.

They walked to a small diner that was near the school. They kept looking at each other and smiling, but nothing was said. When they got to the diner, Andrew set aside his things, and they sat down.

Allison put her arms on the table, and folded her hands, looking around. Andrew picked up a menu, and started to examine it, when he noticed what Allison was doing.

"I thought you were hungry." Andrew smiled.

Allison took notice, and became red. She had no idea what she was doing. They ordered their food, and sat in silence looking at each other off and on for what seemed like forever. She moved her lips to one side, looking like she was thinking about something, but in reality she was just nervous.

"So, where is your dad?" Allison asked, trying to break the tension.

"He couldn't come actually." Andrew answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"No, it's good." Andrew said rather happily, "That's probably why I did so well."

"Oh, well then I'm glad." Allison took a sip through her straw, and looked at Andrew.

Finding herself finally alone with Andrew, she of course, found herself unsure of what to talk about. The only thing she could think of, was the strange incident they had in the bathroom, "Hey, about the bathroom thing.." Allison began.

Andrew laughed, "Don't worry about it."

"Sometimes I just can't help myself." she admitted.

They both laughed, and for at least twenty minutes, they were able to enjoy each others company. Andrew looked out the window, and saw Alex, and a few other guys he knew from wrestling. He tried to cover his face, so they wouldn't notice him through the window, and Allison didn't take notice. She was enjoying his company, and was just glad she didn't have to go home and eat her mom's dinner.

Andrew became slightly twitchy when he heard the door open, and he knew his friends were probably going to notice him. He tried to make himself look less noticeable, but it also caught the attention of Allison.

Her face become somewhat serious, "Are you okay?" she asked, with a strange look on her face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Andrew replied, trying not to look around.

Allison noticed some guys sitting down, "Is it those guys?" she asked.

"No, what guys?"

"Are they your friends?" she asked.

"Who?" Andrew asked.

"There's guys over there, they are on the wrestling team, I saw them tonight." she said, becoming suspicious.

"Oh yeah?" Andrew said, trying to keep his cool, Andrew put his hands down, but became fidgety.

Allison saw Alex getting up from his seat, she was pretty sure he was coming over to them. She wiped her mouth, and tried to prepare for what was about to happen.

"Andy?" Alex asked, looking at Andrew, who still thought he could somehow hide.

"Oh, hey, Alex." He said, looking up at him.

"Hey man, what's going on?" Alex was about to sit down, but Andrew got up instead.

"Not too much, I was just leaving." Andrew looked over at the table Alex was at, all of his friends were there.

Allison looked at them both, and wasn't happy how things were panning out, not only that, but she had just prematurely finished her dinner.

"Oh, well I'll see ya tomorrow man, good job tonight." Alex congratulated him, and then looked at Allison with what seemed like a scowl. Allison could have stared a hole through him.

Andrew smiled to his friend, grabbed Allison's arm, and walked quickly out of the diner, Allison following closely behind. When they got outside, Allison tugged away from his arm.

"What is going on? Why didn't we stay?" She asked, angrily.

"We have to go." Andrew said, not looking back at her.

Allison just continued to follow him to his parent's car, it was back at the school. Andrew opened the door for her, and Allison plopped down angrily in the seat, shutting the door behind her. Andrew got in, and started the car. The only time they talked was when Allison was telling Andy how to get to her house. Other than that, it was complete silence. Allison had her arms folded, forcing herself to keep her mouth shut. Andrew pulled up to her house, and Allison sat there, not even realizing she was home.

"I'll see ya." Andrew said, looking at his steering wheel.

Allison looked over at him, giving him a look she hoped would practically kill him. He wasn't even looking at her. She got out, and without looking back, went into her house.

Andrew looked out the right side window at her house, _she definitely wasn't coming back out anytime soon_, he thought. Not like it mattered, what could he possibly say to make anything right again? He did the most hypocritical thing he could possibly do, and he felt like he couldn't even help it. He rolled his eyes, and drove off.

As Andrew drove off knowing he had ruined what could have been a great time, Allison was in her room, sprawled out on her bed. She was trying hard not to breakdown, while staring at her ceiling. All she wanted was a few enjoyable hours with Andy, and she was starting to believe it was never going to happen. She found the strength to get up, and walked over to her mirror. She wiped her face with her sleeves, and in a few minutes, she was running down the stairs, and leaving her house. She walked and walked, finally showing up at Bender's house. She knew he didn't want to be bothered with her and her problems, but she didn't really care. She walked around the house, looking into windows, hoping to spot him. She really did not want to knock on his door, if she had too, she was going to wait outside till she saw him. Eventually she found the window to his room, and saw him playing guitar. She lightly tapped on his window with her fingers. Bender saw the top of her head, peering in through the window.

He put aside his guitar, and walked over, opening up the window, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Um, nothing, just wanted to talk." Allison noticed a smell coming from his room, and knew it had to be pot.

"Isn't that what you pay your shrink for?" he asked, pushing back his hair.

"I don't have a shrink." she admitted.

"Go figure." John replied, he opened the window more, after all, he could appreciate her odd entrance. He walked over to pick up his guitar again.

Allison climbed in, and stood there. John went back to being in the same position he was in, and started strumming random strings. She looked around, but continued to stand there, afraid to sit down.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" Bender asked, pausing with his guitar for a moment.

"No." Allison said, slowly sitting down on the floor.

"So what's with you stalking me?" he wondered, "You know, I don't really appreciate it."

"I'm not stalking you." Allison became defensive, "Like I said, I just wanted to talk."

"Well, Allison, you're not saying much." Bender said, in his well known, sarcastic tone.

"Maybe I don't wanna talk, maybe I just don't wanna be alone." She was thinking out loud.

"Now, pick the one or the other." he continued being sarcastic. He stopped playing his guitar.

"I was hanging out with Andy today." Allison said, curling up her legs.

"Yeah? So?" Bender began, "Let me guess, you went to his wrestling match, his friends were there, it didn't work out."

Allison sighed, "Basically."

"What the fuck did you think would happen?" He stopped everything he was doing, and leaned over, resting his arms on his legs.

"I don't know, things were okay, and then his friends showed up." Allison was trying to hold back some tears.

Bender became annoyed. He was annoyed because everything he said in detention ended up being completely true. Not that he ever thought it wasn't, but even he had some hope that something would turn out differently.

They both sat, thinking to themselves, Bender noticed Allison becoming more upset. He wasn't about to bring it up, but he also didn't like seeing her like that.

Allison once again, wiped her face with her sleeves, "I thought things would be different." she said, putting a smile on a sad face.

"Yeah." Bender didn't know what else to tell her. He didn't have high hopes like she did, he knew better. It was awkward enough Allison was crying in his room, he just wanted it to end. He went to reach for something, as Allison watched.

He held out his hand that was holding a bag of pot, "Want some?" he asked.

Allison looked at the pot, and then at him, and laughed, "No. I don't want pot."

"Your loss." he said, as he took some out.

Allison stood up, it was time for her to leave, she thought to herself.

"Thanks for being home." she said.

Bender nodded, "See ya tomorrow."

Allison climbed outside, and walked back home, feeling slightly better.

A couple of blocks away, Brian sat at the kitchen table, just waiting for the right moment to tell his parents the bad news. Although most of the things that happened to him during the day, was overshadowed by the dismal sound of Mr. Vernon's voice hovering over him. There was something good that happened as well. He had talked to his shop teacher, and although it was too late to fix the stupid elephant, if he could make an extra credit project, it would help his grade.

"I found out I could do an extra credit project in my shop class." Brian said, with food in his mouth.

"That's great." His mom sounded too happy, he thought, in a few minutes, she would be hysterical.

"What are you going to do it on?" she asked.

"Um, I don't know, I haven't thought about that yet, I mean, I just found out today." Brian said, putting more food into his mouth.

"Well, you better get crackin'. Don't waste any time." His mom demanded, sitting down to join him.

Brian gulped food down, and looked at his plate nervously, "Uh, mom, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" His mom and dad looked right at him, which wasn't making it any easier.

"Today, I kinda got in trouble." he said, hanging his head.

"What does that mean? Getting in trouble? What are you talkin' about here?" She was chewing her food viciously.

Brian thought quickly of how to handle this, he could either tell them what he told Vernon, or he could tell her the truth.

"I, um, lost this paper outside, and I really needed it, so I had to go back, uh, out you know, to look for it. When I came back in, Mr. Vernon was there, and he gave me detention." Brian explained.

"Excuse me?" His mom's voice became harsh, "I should call him up, that man shouldn't be giving you detention for that."

"Wa-wait I mean, it was my fault, I should have been more careful, and maybe I should have told someone I was going outside." Brian shrugged.

His mom looked at him, squinting her eyes, "That just doesn't sound right Brian, you can't just let him get away with that, I mean this is your life here."

His dad didn't say anything, which Brian didn't like, instead he sat there with his hand holding his chin.

"Mom, really, it-it's okay, you don't have to call him." Brian sighed.

"You really need to watch what you're doin' Brian, you haven't been right ever since this whole locker incident." His mom was shaking her head, looking rather frustrated with him.

Brian sat looking down at his food, his fork kept hitting the table.

"This is the last time I want to hear something like this, Brian." His mom pointed her finger at him. He looked up, feeling like he once again let his parents down.

"Okay." Brian replied.

_That could have been a lot worse_, he thought. He felt guilty for lying, and he was disappointed in himself for having detention, but he didn't feel as bad as he thought he would. He felt slightly angry instead, angry that he had to tell a stupid lie to his parents, just so things wouldn't get so overblown. He got up from the table, and went to his room. His room was typical geek. It had a bluish color, and he had a poster of the original Star Wars movie. Off to the side, he had a desk full of different books, some were for school, and some were for reading. He also had a lamp, and various office supplies. He sat down at his desk. Sure, he was going to have to face another Saturday in detention with Bender, but it wasn't going to be the end of the world. In his moment of optimism, He sat down and started brainstorming ideas for his extra credit assignment.


End file.
